By Lara Fominoff @LaraFominoff on Twitter

City of Lethbridge finds money for 2020 Canada Wide Science Fair

Apr 18, 2018 | 3:27 PM

LETHBRIDGE – After pondering where to find an extra $160,000 to potentially support the 2020 Canada Wide Science Fair, the City of Lethbridge came up with a solution:

Take the money from a surplus in another reserve.

At Monday’s meeting, councillors voted unanimously to allow for $160,000 to be taken from the Municipal Revenue Stabilization Reserve in a one-time allocation.

The reserve currently has a $3.5 million surplus.

City Treasurer Hailey Pinksen was tasked with coming up with options for potentially funding the event, which is expected to provide about $1.2 million dollars in economic spinoff, according to a presentation by the University of Lethbridge’s Valerie Archibald.

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Other options for funding included approving money from the Environment Committee Carry-Over, which has a $476,000 surplus, the Open and Effective Government Committee Carry-Over which has a $525,000 surplus, Council Contingencies with a $119,000 surplus, or the GST Rebate Fund with a $1.3 million surplus.

The money for the nine-day fair was originally requested from the Major Community Event Hosting Grant budget, however the entire one-million-dollar budget for 2015-2018 has been used up.

And nearly all the one-million-dollar 2019-2022 budget has already been spoken for as well.

Mayor Chris Spearman said during Monday’s council meeting that the city should not only support sports, but the sciences and academics as well – and the university made a compelling case.

“Next year the new science building, the Destination Project will be complete. What a wonderful opportunity to showcase that building and what our university can offer to students from across Canada.”

Councillors Campbell, Hyggen, Carlson also added their support, saying it would be the perfect opportunity for youth from coast to coast to see some of the post-secondary options Lethbridge has to offer.

Councillor Jeffrey Coffman also said he would support the bid, however he was not happy that the bid/application was made a couple of months ago, essentially “tying” council’s commitment in some ways to the event.

“We don’t want to see the university left hanging. We don’t want to be putting our name out there to sponsor or host an event, only to have to say well, no, we’re going to yank it because we don’t have the support from the municipality.”

If the bid is successful, the University of Lethbridge will play host to 500 young scientists from across the country who will showcase their solutions to some of the most pressing issues facing the world today.

They will compete for nearly one-million-dollars in prizes, scholarships and awards.

The events will cost about $1.2 million to host. Youth Science Canada will provide $907,450, The U of L will provide $154,000 and as mentioned the City will also give $160,000.

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